CHICAGO _ It took a while. Until the very end, actually. But the Penguins made a flurry of moves before the NHL trade deadline had passed.
Just none involving Marc-Andre Fleury.
The Penguins hung on to their longest-tenured player, committing to a two-goalie system the rest of the way, while they acquired defensemen Mark Streit from Tampa Bay and Frankie Corrado from Toronto in two separate deals.
For Corrado, the Penguins sent Eric Fehr, Steve Oleksy and a fourth-round pick in 2017 to the Maple Leafs. The Penguins dealt a fourth-round draft choice in 2018 to Tampa Bay for Streit.
Corrado is 23 years old and viewed as a project on the back end, something the Penguins have had success handling in the past.
He's a right-handed shot and is regarding as an above-average puck mover. Drafted in the fifth round (150th overall) by Vancouver in 2011, Corrado has three goals and eight points in 69 NHL games, two with the Maple Leafs this season.
Streit actually comes from the rival Flyers. He's 39 years old and has played 765 NHL games.
Earlier Wednesday, Streit was traded to Tampa Bay from Philadelphia but only spent a couple hours as a member of the Lightning before the Penguins acquired him.
Streit has 95 goals and 428 points in his NHL career, which has also included stints with the Canadiens and Islanders.
With Olli Maatta (hand) and Trevor Daley (knee) out with injuries but slated to return before the end of the regular season, the Penguins' blue line could be a crowded place in a couple of weeks.
Dealing Fehr comes after the Penguins placed him on waivers Tuesday. Nobody, of course, claimed Fehr, and he would have counted $950,000 against their cap had the move not been made.
Also Wednesday, the Penguins recalled defenseman Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Pouliot was not on the ice Wednesday morning with the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate, meaning it's likely he could join the NHL club Wednesday in Chicago.
The name most often bandied about, of course, was Fleury and whether he would remain a Penguin since logic dictates the organization wouldn't want to enter the expansion draft having to expose Matt Murray.
Fleury carries a modified no-movement clause and thus would be the only goaltender the Penguins could protect.
General manager Jim Rutherford maintained all season that he was fine with two good goalies on his payroll and stuck to his word Wednesday.
Several names were linked to the Penguins throughout the day, but none became members of the organization.
Early on, TSN's Pierre Lebrun said the Penguins were kicking tires on Dmitry Kulikov of the Sabres and Philadelphia's Michael Del Zotto. Kulikov is expensive ($4,333,333 cap hit), and the Flyers ultimately decided to keep Del Zotto.
A big-money deal for Colorado's Matt Duchene never materialized, much to some fans' dismay, with the Avalanche sticking to their significant demands.
